Thank-you, this is good information to have. I've wondered, too, how to proceed in such cases. The problem is usually with me, it's more that I get a 'feeling' something is off/not-true, with no real proof, and I'm not close enough with anyone here to check if I'm just being overly suspicious. I've been on a lot of webforums over the years, and there are certain stories that...well, are often fake. But there's no reason it *couldn't* happen, it just...feels off. Generally I just won't post on those threads, and quietly wonder, though if anything I was more sure of came up, I'd talk to a mod, I think.

I've done this before. All sorts of alarm bells were going off in my head over a poster's saga, and I debated with myself for quite a while over reporting it. I finally decided to do so because I figured the mods wouldn't ban anyone over just my gut feeling, but it might alert them if other people had the same feelings I did and reported them. I didn't get a reprimand in response, so I can only assume it's okay to do. I would never do it unless the feelings were very strong and persisted for a while.

I believe intuition is based in facts we don't consciously recognize; it's not completely reliable, but it's something I respect.

I would say go to the mods too Also it is not a bad thing to use a different name on many different forums... so even if you THINK someone may be someone else from a different forum, how can you tell, it just gets sticky I think.. so best to talk to the mods and they can see what is going on and maybe even talk to that person.

However it is VERY hard to prove if what someone is saying it true, because we are hearing one side of a story, and if it is something of concern, you are getting an emotional retelling peppered with that persons POV only. I like to think people on this forum are honest... it doesn't hurt that my new roomie is an EHellion

I know I can be one of those people who let my emotions run everything, and I try to get out of that habit.

I got an email from someone whom I thought was blowing me off, after we had a lot of great talks with, and I was so bummed. I showed it to my friend and she said it was not a blow off at ALL, and that I was making a big deal and reading something into it that was not there. :whew: I saw the error of my ways.

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"Life's like an hour glass glued to the table and no one can find the rewind button boy. So cradle your head in your hands and breathe"

From my understanding simplymade up stories are OK, but I would like to know if someone is known to by lying when the stories are more personal than random stories about made up bad behaviors.

People here are big hearted, and I would be concernedthat people may be taken advantage of behind the scenes both emotionally and potentially even though other kinds of support. I know that in general the mods seem to focus on keeping drama to a minimum, but I would hope that posters are kept in the loop as appropriate by the mods when emotionally invested to prevent someone from being taken advantage of.

From my understanding simplymade up stories are OK, but I would like to know if someone is known to by lying when the stories are more personal than random stories about made up bad behaviors.

People here are big hearted, and I would be concernedthat people may be taken advantage of behind the scenes both emotionally and potentially even though other kinds of support. I know that in general the mods seem to focus on keeping drama to a minimum, but I would hope that posters are kept in the loop as appropriate by the mods when emotionally invested to prevent someone from being taken advantage of.

Yes, I think it would be fine to post a pure hypothetical, but not a deeply personal fake story that tugs the e-hellions' heartstrings on false pretenses.

Also it is not a bad thing to use a different name on many different forums... so even if you THINK someone may be someone else from a different forum, how can you tell, it just gets sticky I think..

Lots of times, it's easy to tell. People have idiosyncracies of speech that they use in posting, and they're very hard to get rid of without a conscious effort. I've been recognized on this forum, both by people who know me on another site and by one person who knows me in real life. (Of course, that last one probably has as much to do with my profile picture as my writing style ...)

From my understanding simplymade up stories are OK, but I would like to know if someone is known to by lying when the stories are more personal than random stories about made up bad behaviors.

People here are big hearted, and I would be concernedthat people may be taken advantage of behind the scenes both emotionally and potentially even though other kinds of support. I know that in general the mods seem to focus on keeping drama to a minimum, but I would hope that posters are kept in the loop as appropriate by the mods when emotionally invested to prevent someone from being taken advantage of.

POD to the quad. People have been very hurt to find out that a poster whose story in which they invested time, advice and concern was just a troll trying to get his/her jollies.

However, hypothetically an EHellion who has a good track record here really cannot get in trouble for maybe posting on a controversial site elsewhere, right?

I am sure there are many hot button political issues that here we can't talk about BUT in other areas of the internet, you can and it's encouraged that you debate. If you follow the individual rules of each forum I think you're in the clear I would say.

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"Life's like an hour glass glued to the table and no one can find the rewind button boy. So cradle your head in your hands and breathe"

However, hypothetically an EHellion who has a good track record here really cannot get in trouble for maybe posting on a controversial site elsewhere, right?

I am sure there are many hot button political issues that here we can't talk about BUT in other areas of the internet, you can and it's encouraged that you debate. If you follow the individual rules of each forum I think you're in the clear I would say.

Of course. But posting elsewhere doesn't have anything to do with deliberately trolling here.

I think it's up to members of the forum not to get too emotionally involved in any one thread/story/poster that's posted here. For that reason, I dont get too upset when posters post false stories (I used to though!). And I think fals stories are generally harmless, unles...

That said, if the intent is to rile up folks for fun/post something intentionally controversial that's not also edifying/garner sympathy/offers of help in real life, etc. it's simply trolling, and I agree with reporting to a mod. There's a fine line between - making up posts for entertainment and making fun of the people you're posting to, kwim?

Mods have said we can ask for clarifying details, but basically trying to "catch" someone trolling isnt our responsibility.

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Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning. - Maya Angelou

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. - Maya Angelou

I am aware of one on another forum also and to me, its insulting that they actively masquerade a distressing situation when tohers might actually be there, not to mention those who offer sympathy, own experiences and (I have seen) financial aid.

Embellishing a story to prtect identification is completely different, IMO. As are declare hypothetical scenarios.